Out-Law News 2 min. read
23 Nov 2011, 2:12 pm
The Permitted Development Amendment Order (12-page / 82KB PDF), which grants automatic planning permission to certain defined 'classes' of development, has been amended to remove the need for certain demolition proposals to be submitted to the planning authority for prior approval of the method of demolition and restoration under the permitted development regime .
Prior approval will now only be needed where the building being demolished is a dwellinghouse, flats, or buildings with mutual walls or a main wall adjoining a dwellinghouse or flat. Planning permission will still be required where permitted development rights do not apply, for example where the development triggers the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regime.
The EIA Directive and national regulations prescribe that an EIA be carried out whenever certain construction works are proposed. An EIA assesses both the positive and negative impacts of proposed projects and ensures that such impacts are taken into account when a decision is made to grant planning permission or not.
Non-residential demolition was previously excluded from the scope of the planning and EIA regimes as under a Scottish Government Direction it was not classed as "development". However, the Scottish Government recently had to withdraw this Direction (10-page / 145KB PDF) after a court decision in March.
The Court of Appeal in England said that local authorities would now have to consider whether demolition is likely to have a significant environment effect in the same way as they already do for new developments. The ruling meant that the demolition of non-residential buildings and structures fell within the scope of both national planning laws and European environmental laws for the first time.
Scott McCallum, a planning law expert with Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the change to the permitted development order would make it "easier and quicker" to implement certain demolition proposals and would in practice "bring us closer to the position under the old Direction".
However, he warned that the "carve outs" to the permitted development regime would have to be carefully considered before a developer could be confident of relying on permitted development rights.
Developments which are covered by the EIA regime, or in areas where a so-called 'Article 4 Direction' is in force, would still require full planning permission and perhaps an EIA to be carried out. An Article 4 Direction is issued by a local authority in circumstances where specific control over development is required, such as in conservation areas.
"Things are therefore not as simple as under the old regime," said McCallum.
Permitted development rights will also not apply to the partial demolition of a building. However partial demolition was excluded from the previous Direction, so the position remains unchanged.
All demolitions in England and Wales remain caught by the planning and EIA regimes.
